Published 4:00 am, Monday, September 3, 2001

2001-09-03 04:00:00 PDT San Francisco -- A survey conducted by the defense team for the couple accused in the dog-mauling death of a Pacific Heights woman found that an overwhelming majority of potential jurors in the Bay Area and San Diego have already concluded that the pair are guilty.

The findings by two political science professors indicate that publicity about the case has made an impact beyond San Francisco, where defendants Robert Noel and Marjorie Knoller are jailed awaiting trial.

The couple's attorneys have asked a judge to move the trial from the city, and the prosecution says it will not oppose the effort. Knoller has been charged with second-degree murder in the Jan. 26 mauling death of Diane Whipple, and Noel has been charged with manslaughter.

The mauling by a Presa Canario dog in the apartment building where Whipple and the accused couple were neighbors made headlines nationwide. The study of the potential jury pool -- included in papers that the defense filed Friday supporting the change-of-venue motion -- shows that the publicity has not been forgotten.

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In San Francisco, according to the survey, 97.1 percent of those asked had heard of the case.

Of those, 71.4 percent believed that the defendants were probably or definitely guilty. Of the entire sample of 407 polled in the city, 69.3 percent favored guilt.

"That means that of every 100 people who walk through the courthouse door, including those who did not recognize the case, between two-thirds and three- quarters believe these defendants are guilty," said Edward Bronson, an emeritus professor at California State University at Chico, in a report supporting the change of venue.

The defense surveys were conducted by Bronson's colleague Robert Ross, head of the political science department at Cal State Chico, from June 22 to July 11.

In San Mateo County, virtually every one of the 202 people surveyed -- 99.5 percent -- had heard of the case. Sixty-nine percent thought Knoller and Noel were guilty.

In San Diego County, publicity about the dog-mauling death was only slightly less widespread, with 80.2 percent of those questioned saying they had heard about it. But the conclusion was no different from that in the Bay Area -- 69 percent of those familiar with the case said the accused couple were guilty.

Bronson, who was hired by the public defender's office, argued that the Internet has done much to spread word about the case and allows people to review old stories far easier than in the past.

The case showed that more than half of those surveyed in San Francisco knew four or more specific details about the case and nearly a third knew all five of the specifics asked about in the survey.

"These numbers may be the highest of any survey I have dealt with, demonstrating a depth and familiarity with the case that raise severe problems for defendants facing trial," Bronson said.